Proposed plan to induct day-night Test cricket will take several years: Kookaburra boss

Sports

Staff

Posted By: Staff

Published: Sunday, January 31, 2010, 13:18 [IST]

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Melbourne, Jan 31(ANI): In a blow to Cricket Australia's hopes for ushering in day-night Test cricket, Kookaburra Sport has warned that it could take "several years" before a Test match is played under lights.

Kookaburra boss Ross Elliott said the quest for the ideal day-night ball would remain a "very difficult problem" unless cricket authorities were prepared to compromise on how Test cricket is played.

"If we change the deterioration process of the ball, are we changing the game? That's the dilemma we face. I don't think it's going to be solved overnight," Fox Sports quoted Elliott, as saying.

When asked how long it would be before day-night Tests were played in Australia, Elliott said: "I don't know. I know CA are hoping it might be a couple of years but in all honesty it could be several years."

"We'll be doing some trials, but it's a bit open-ended. If we have to make some further changes (to the balls for trials), we'll have to go through the process again and so it will go on until we can give the administrators something that they can live with. It's a very difficult problem. It's hard to be definitive. I don't think anyone has the answer," he added.

Elliott further said the problem lies in attempting to replicate the natural wear and performance of the traditional red ball with its pink and white alternatives.

"I don't believe any ball (other than red) has got 80 overs in it. There are materials out there that are very sophisticated and it would minimise scuffing and scratching, but that would make it hard to deteriorate and it would have a huge impact on the game. It's up to administrators to decide what they constitute as being acceptable and what's not acceptable," Elliott said.

"It's going to cost a lot of money and it has already cost a lot of money. We need to bear in mind the parameters of Test cricket and try to deliver a ball that does not in any way harm the integrity of the game. If we change the deterioration process (of the ball), are we changing the game? That's the dilemma we face. I don't think it's going to be solved overnight," he added. (ANI)